Rail-joint



.HABRY F. ROAH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

nAIL-Joi-Nr.

I ,Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

' Patentea Mar. 5, 1918.

Application flled August 6, 1917. Serial No. 184,653.

To all (whom) it may concern: I

Be it known that I, HARRI F. RoAcir, a. citizen of the United States,residing at St.

Louis, Missouri, have invented a cortain new and useful Improvement inRail-Joints, Vof which the following is a'full, clear, and exactdescription, such aswill enable others Skilled in the' art to which itappertaius to make and usethesame.

This invention relates to rail joints of the so-called splice type,namely, joints `in Which splice members consisting'of fishA plates.

or angle bars are arranged'on opposite-sides of the -Webs of the railsin engagement with. the heads and the base flanges of the rails. fi

ln my trated andldescribed a. rail joint. of the vgeneral type referredto in which the side members of' the joint'have their end portionsspaced'away from the heads and the base flanges of the 'rails and theirintermediate portions'arra'nged in engagement with the heads and thebase flanges of the railsso as 4to form -substantiallyhinge connectionsbetween the rails and the center portion of the joint which permit thewave motion of the rails 'throughout the track to be continued uniformlythrough thejoints of b'the track.. bIn the rail` joint-described in saidapplication the side 'members of the joint are arranged parallel'to therails andthe intermediate portions' of said members areV wedgedtightlybetween the heads and the base fianges of the rails throughoutthe entire length of said intermediate portions, thus forming relativelylong bearing lsurfaces 'for theV terminal portions of the rails at, the.center of the joint.

The main object of my present invention' is to provide a rail joint ofthe general kind described in my application for patent above referredto, in Which the side members o f thel joint are so constructed that aslight relief is' provided for the terminals-or extreme ends 'of therails at the center of the joint, there'by further reducing thestiffness of'the' portions of the rails that are embraced by the jointand also producing a more perfect hinge connection between the rails andthe center'portion of the joint. Other objects and desirable features ofmy invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

To this end I-haveI devised a rail joint in which' the side'members'ofthe joint arebso constructed and' arranged that rfulcr'um pendingapplication Serial No. "105,349, filedl June 23, 1916, I have illustheWebs o pointsb will be provided for the rails at each side of the exactcenter of the joint and in proximity to the center bolts of the joint,the end portions of said side .members -being spaced away from the headsand the base flanges of the rails, so as to permit the rails ltomovevertically at-the ends ofthe joint under load, both upwardlyanddownwardly. The side members of the joint can either be formed in`such a ,manner tha't they bdo not contact with the heads and thebasefianges of the rails but still provide for a slight reo f the railsat the terminals or extreme ends vof the rails, or the Vside members canbeeso .constructed and arranged that they provide ..bearingsurfaces forthe 'terminaljportions lief forthe'terminals or extreme ends of the jrails when the rails are under load. I prefer to Construct lthe joint inthe manner last described by usingside members -of similar form anddesign to those shown in my ap- I plication previously referred to, buthaving their end portions drawn inwardlytoward the rails, so, as tocauseV the center portions of said side members to bow Y out slightly,and thus produce fulcrum points on which the undersides of the heads'-and the upper sides of the baseflanges of the rail bear at points. aslight, distance at eitherside of the exact center of the joint.

,Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspectivey j view of a rail jointconstructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a view ofsaid joint, partly in end elevation and partly section. L

l in vertical transverse I Referring to the bdrawings which" illus' i itrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates two membersthatlflare arranged on opposite sides of two abirtting rails B,

and C and C' designate bolts cr other suitf able fastening-devices thatpass transversely through said members and through the webs of therails. Each of the members A is provided intermediate its ends withmeans' 1 and 2'that bear against the undersides of the heads '3 of the.rails andv against the upper'- I sides of the base vflanges 4,respectively, of 105.

the rails, said means -1 and 2 preferably consisting of integralportions on the upper and lower edges of each of the members A thatextend a short distance on each side of the spacegbe'tween the ends ofthe rails. The end portionsof each of the members A are spaced away fromthe heads band from the bbase flanges of the rails, ,as shown in Fig.

1,' so as to permit the rails B to deflect' vslightly and also moveupwardly at the ends of the joint under load. By constructing the sidemembers of the joint in thismanner I obtain' practically hingeconnections between the terminal portions of the rails and the centerportion of the joint without the use of a base plate or supportingstructure under the base flanges of the rails. .l/Vl1en the joint is inservice the load imposed'on one rail by a wheel traveling over the samewill be transmitted to the center portion of the joint through the endof the rail, thus bringing the side members A into shear resistance atthe center of the joint. lVhen the load pass'es from said rail onto 'theadjacent rail the load will be transmitted through the end portion ofthe rail'to the center portions of the side members A in exactly thesame manner just described. It will thus be seen that in a rail joint ofthe kind herein illustrated the vertical bending moment of the sidemembers A at the-center of the joint is reduced to a negligible degree,soI

that it is not necessary to consider the bending moment. as a factor indesigning a joint for the particular work that it is required to do. Thehinge connection between the rails and the side members A of the jointeliminates hard spots in the track and prevents reverse strains frombeing created in the joint,

' as such a connection permits the wave motion to pass throughl thejoint uninterrupted. The side members A of the joint may be of anypreferred cross sectional shape and mayy be formed in varlous wayswithout depart-- ing from the spirit of my invention. In the form of myinvention herein illustrated each of the side members A consists of aD-bar, or bar of substantially D shape in cross section, whose centerportion conforms substantially to the fishing section of the rails landwhose end portions are o'f less depth'or height than the verticaldistance between the heads and the base flanges of the rails, so thatthey will not bear against the same, the center .portion of each of theside members A being so proportioned that when the center bolts C of thejoint are' tightened the centerportions of the side members A will I bedrawn inwardly into engagement with the heads and the base flanges ofthe rails, but not into engagement withthe Vertical webs of the rails,as indicated vin Fig. 2. During the installation of the joint the centerbolts Cl are first tighte'ned and thereafter the end bolts C' are drawnup tightly, so

. as to force the. end portions of the side members A inwardly into snugengagement with the vertical webs of the rails. As the center portionsof the side members A are held spaced slightly away .from the Webs ofthe rails by the engagement of the surfaces 1 and 2 on the upper andlower edges of said members with the heads and the base flanges of therails, it follows that When theend i bolts C' are drawn up tightly theside members A will be slightly bowed out at the center of the joint,thus producing a slight relief m for the terminals'or'extreme ends ofthe rails B, and consequently, causing the heads and base flanges of therails to fulcrum on the side membersA at points y in proximity to thecenter bolts C of the joint when the rails are under load. The purposeof constructing the .joint in this manner is tol further reduce thestiffness of the portions of the rails that are embraced by the sidemembers of the joint and also produce a more perfect hinge connectionbetween the. rails and the center portion of the joint, for when thejoint is in service the rails will fulcrum on the points y of the sidemembers A, instead of on relatively long 4bearing sur-` faces thatextend across the space between theends of the rails, as in the jointdescribed in my application for patent previ- In actual practice theously referred to. upper and lower edges 1 and 2 of the intermediateportions of the side members Aibear against the undersides. of the headsand against the upper sides of the base flanges of the rail, but theactual fulcrum points of the Vrails on theside members A are at thepoints y, due to thefact that when the end portions of the side membersA are drawn inwardly sufliciently to bow out the center portions of saidside members A, a slight relief will'be provided between said mem` bersand the heads and base flanges of the rails at the extreme ends orterminals of the rails. It is immaterial, so far as my broad idea. isconcerned, just where the fulcrum points y on the side members A are.located, V

so long as said fulerum points are in proximity to the center bolts ofVthe joint.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A rail joint, comprising side membersv arranged on opposlte s1des ofthe rails With v their end portions. spaced away from the heads of therails and from the baseflanges of the rails, said side members being sodis-` posed that a slight relief is provided at the Vcenter of the jointfor the terminals or extreme ends of the rails.

2. A rail joint, comprlsing side members f arranged on opposite sides ofthe rails with diate their` ends With portions that 'cooper'- ate withthe heads and base flanges of the rails to form fulorum points for therails located at each side ofthe space between the ends of the railsandspaced away from the extreme ends of the rails.`

4. A rai1 joint, comprisingside members arranged onf opposite sides ofthe rails with their end portions spaced away from the heads and thebase flanges of the rails, and portions intermediate the ends of saidside members that are Vpositioned between the heads and the base flangesof the rails and on which the rails fulcrum at separated points inproximity to the center bolts of the joint. J

5. A rail joint, comprising side members arranged on opposite sides ofthe rails with their' end portions spaced laway from the heads and thebase flanges of the rails and their intermediate' portions arranged inengagement with the heads and the -base flanges of the rails, the endsof said. side members being drawn inwardiy toward the .webs of therails; for the purpose described.

6.' A rail joint; comprising side members arranged on opposite sides ofthe rails w-ith their end portions spaced away Vfrom the heads and thebase flanges of the rails, said side members being bowed outwardlyintermediate their ends and provided with fulcrum points that contactwith the heads and the base flanges of the rails` at -pointsi-nproximity to the center bolts of .the joint.

7 A rail joint, comprising sidegmembers arranged on opposite sides ofthe rails with their end portions spaced away from the heads and thebase flanges of the rails and in engagement with the Webs of therai1s,;,said side members being provided intermediate their ends withful'crum points that contact with the base flanges and the heads of'therails at points far enough from the vspace between the ends of the railsto' provide a reiief for the terminals of thev rails when posed that therails can fulcrum or rock on the same at separated .points in proximityto the 'center bolts of the joint.

HARRY F. RoAoH.

